Broken ovens and dry turkey

Happy belated Thanksgiving. My holiday was pretty lame, but Thanksgiving is always a pretty lame holiday.
This year, my mom "broke" the oven, just in time for the holidays so the fam went out to dinner at a place in the town where I'm from.
The buffet was lackluster but Thanksgiving food really isn't all that wonderful anyway and they covered the basics, so what could any of us expect?

My boyfriend came to dinner and my family liked him, but took the opportunity to ask me if having the boyfriend meant I changed my plans to go to Alaska this summer.
'Of course not' was my response, so they changed tactics and just told me they didn't want me to go.

I just don't think they understand that I really want to get out of this place. Like, a lot.
It's not that I'm running away from them, it's just that I'm trying to escape this state where everybody knows everybody and they all have two cents they are itching to give you (for future refence, skip the two cents and give me a dollar, would ya? Maybe then I'll listen).
I love my boyfriend and I love my family but this world is pretty big and this little peninsula is pretty small, as are the minds of many people who live here.

Am I asking for too much when I say I want to find a place to live that excites me? A place where all the open space is not being filled up with shabby construction? A place where the highest elevation is not a speed bump? A place where people talk about ideas, not just other people?

Now my future 'co-pilot' for this trip to Alaska is telling me her whole family doesn't want her to go either. I'll be honest, I'm a little intimadated when I think about driving there. Especially with just the two of us girls, but there's time to plan, or we could just fly there (and deal with not having a car for the whole summer). I really do want to drive though. Maybe if we got one more person to split the gas, it would be worth it?

I don't really know. If we got a guy to go with us, the families would probably feel better, but we would lose a lot of storage space in my Camry between the person and their luggage. I would feel more comfortable if a guy went, even though I hate actually putting that into writing because I grew up thinking girls can do anything guys can do. The thing is, men will always be stronger, even if they are dumber.

Alright, I'm tired of spending so much time on doubts. The trip will work out, somehow, even if it means I don't drive or I go solo. There's a lot of time to figure out the particulars.